Every once in a while, I hear or read something that makes me pause and realize I’m not as damned smart as I think I am.
If Wikipedia is correct that that idiomatic phrase comes from the medieval usage of ‘umble pie,’ a dish of offals suitable only for the lower classes, I’m even more deserving of a large serving.
This has to do with my disdainful regard for those who flock to Trump rallies. Instead of taking seriously the reasons for so many feeling that The Donald is ‘one of us,’ I’ve lumped the whole crowd into a category I can easily dismiss. They are all Duck-Dynasty Bubbas, the unwashed, possum-eatin’, gun-crazies. OK, evidently Senator Cruz is of the same opinion, since he’s been seen, shot-gun raised in a duck blind, dressed in his camo outfit.
I was somewhat jarred out of my liberal dismissal of those idiots when I read this
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2016/01/donald-trump-and-politics-of-resentment.html
It is not that I hadn’t supposed that there is some raging undercurrent to which political demagoguery appeals, rather, in my retired, comfortable, almost-affluence, I’ve failed to see the plight of those so enraged. There are tens of thousands of working-class people in our towns and cities who would be thrilled to have a job that paid a steady income equivalent to my modest pension and Social Security check.
Yes, they wear Mossy Oak vests and caps instead of Dockers and Ralph Lauren, but they are nonetheless worthy of regard and respect. They may shop at Wal*Mart and ALDI but that does not make them some kind of Neanderthal subspecies, not fully homo sapiens. They may simply want their families to enjoy the comforts you and I take for granted.
We may well have come to a tipping point. When the molten cauldron of their resentment and rage erupts into a revolution, we may wish we had not been so dismissive of their culture and their plight.
If ALDI has humble pie in the frozen food section, I’ll get one on my next shopping trip.